What do we do About our Water Bottle Crisis?

In the United States, about 50 billion water bottles are used each year. Do the math to find out how many bottles are used worldwide. It takes about 17 million barrels of oil to produce 30 billion water bottles. About 70 per cent to 80 per cent of all plastic bottles are not recycled. In Toronto, more than 100 million plastic bottles are used. Many are not recycled. David Suzuki estimates that more than 85 per cent of water bottles purchased are thrown in the trash ... they may end up in landfill, the environment, as well as our water ways and oceans. Greenpeace states that about 10 per cent of all plastic produced ends up in the ocean. Research estimates that about one million ocean creatures are killed yearly because of all plastics. A beached whale in South America was cut open to reveal a stomach full of plastic. As of 2014 Hamilton's diversion rate was 48 per cent, which mean half of the items that can be recycled go to landfill.

Statistics Canada has revealed that many Canadian households use bottled water as their main source of drinking water as they believe it is safer. Health Canada states there is no evidence that bottled water is safer than tap water. In fact, bottled water may contain some harmful chemicals. Dr. William Shotyk, Canadian director of the Institute of Environmental chemistry found PET bottles leach a dangerous toxin called antimony into the water they contain. The City of Hamilton is promoting the use of tap water, which is safe. Hamilton collects samples of tap water daily from many locations and tests it. read more >>